Wrench.



No. 891,088. PATENTED JUNE 16, 1908.

S. LONGANEGKER.

WRENCH.

APPLIOATION FILED DEO.31|1904.

a l loui'l O'L 73272 aeljal yafiec/Fei;

SAMUEL LONGANEOKER, OF ANDERSON, INDIANA.

WRENCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 16, 1908.

Application filed December 31, 1904. Serial No. 239,103.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL LONGANECKER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Anderson, in the county of Madison and State of Indiana,have invented new and use ful Improvements in Wrenches, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to wrenches, and particularly to a wrench of thequick-acting type wherein the movable jaw is adapted for free slidingmovement in either direction to attain a proximate adjustment, and maythen be set to exact adjustment by the use of a nut acting on teeth onthe shank of the wrench.

The invention has for its object the provision of a wrench of this typeprovided with an adjusting nut constructed and mounted in a novel mannerto faciliate its adjustment and enable it to be more easily thrown intoand out of action; and to this end the invention consists of thefeatures of construction, combination and arrangement of partshereinafter fully described and claimed, reference being had to theaccompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a wrenchembodying my invention, showing the nut in its normal position with itsthread engaging the teeth in the shank; Fig 2 is a view similar to Fig.1, showing the sliding jaw in section and the nut thrown out ofengagement with the teeth of the shank to enable the jaw to be quicklyadjusted; and Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view through the nut, showingthe latter mounted upon its bracket.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the numeral 1represents the shank or stock of the wrench provided with the usualfixed jaw 2 and handle 3. This shank or stock is preferably ofrectangular shape in cross section and provided along one of its edgeswith teeth 4.

On the shank 1 is slidably mounted a movable jaw 5 which is bifurcatedat its rear above the toothed side of the shank 1 to form a slot 6 toreceive the attaching portion of a bracket 7, the said attaching portionconsisting of a lug or ear 8 pivotally mounted between the side walls ofthe bifurcation upon a pivot pin 9 extending transversely between andthrough said walls. The bracket is provided with a stem 10 projectingrearwardly'from the ear or lug and forming a journal for the adjustingnut 11. At its outer end the stem 10 is formed or provided With a stopor shoulder 12 which may be of any preferred construction, but ispreferably formed by upsetting or riveting the end of the stem, asshown. The upper edge or surface of the ear 8 is preferably straight orplain surfaced to form an abutment for the free end of a plate or ribbonspring 13 which is fixed at its opposite end to the upper or outer faceof the jaw 5 and serves to hold the nut normally in the operativeposition shown in Fig. 1, in which its screw thread 14 engages the teeth4 of the shank 1. The thread 14 is milled or roughened to adapt it toserve the additional function of a finger grip by means of which the nutmay be swung in and out on its pivot 9 to throw the said thread into andout of engagement with the teeth 4. I

When the parts are in their normal position as shown in Fig. 1, thethreads of the adjusting element 11 mesh with the teeth 41 of the shank,and as the spring 13 is substan tially straight, it exerts little orpractically no pressure in the member 7, so that whatever frictionalengagement there may be between the thread 14 and teeth l, will notmaterially interfere with the free turning of the adjusting element, asfor instance when it is desired to obtain a fine adjustment of theslidable jaw. The free end of the spring does not positively engage theflat face of the element 11 when the spring is straight and consequentlywill not interfere with the free turning of the element. It will beobserved that the pivot 9 is located at the opposite side of the axis ofthe element 11 from the shank of the wrench and when a pressure isexerted on the movable jaw in a direction away from the fixed jaw, as inthe operation of the wrench, it will tend to force the adjusting element11 inwardly toward the shank, so that the threads will be positivelyengaged with the teeth and slipping thus effectively prevented. It will,therefore, be seen that the spring is not entirely, if at all, reliedupon to hold the threads of the element 11 in mesh with the teeth of theshank when the wrench is used for tightening, loosening or turning anut. In other words, when the spring is straight, it will prevent theadjusting element from accidentally moving outwardly and disengagingfrom the teeth of the shank and keep the parts in operative positionwhen the wrench is not used for turning a nut, and the spring possessesthe additional functions of limiting the outward movement of the elementwhen it is desired to move the sliding jaw for coarse adjustment wardface of the nut 11, and that said spring and of returning the element tonormal position after such adjustment is reached.

An important feature of applicants construction is the arrangement ofthe adjusting element whereby the flat top face thereof will firmly bearagainst the bottom surface of the slidable jaw when pressure is exertedon the latter, as in the process of turning a nut. The object ofarranging the element to bear on the sliding jaw in this manner is torelieve the pivot 9 of any strain which might tend to shear the saidpivot, as would be the case if the said element is so positioned as tobe incapable of bearing against the slidable jaw. The spring 13 isarranged on the outside of the slidable aw and forms a cover for therecess 6 at one side, and the element 11 closes the bottom side of thesaid recess and thus cooperates with the spring to prevent the entranceof grit and dirt to the recess.v

By locating the spring at the outside of the member, it can be readilyreplaced in case it should become broken and the element 11 projectsbeyond the free end of the spring so that the latter cannot be caught onobjects.

In the operation of adjusting the sliding jaw 5 to move it into adesired position with relation to the jaw 2 to grip an object thethreaded portion 4 of the nut is engaged between the thumb andforefinger of one hand and the nut thrown against the resistance of itsspring out of engagement with the teeth 4, whereupon the jaw 5 may befreely slid backward or forward on the shank 4 to at tain the proximateadjustment, after which the nut is released, whereupon the spring 13swings the bracket 7 back to its normal position so that its thread willengage the teeth 4, and permit the jaw 5 to be adjusted by a screwaction back or forth to attain the desired adjustment. It will beobserved that the thread 14 is made sufficiently thick -or coarse toobtain a quick screw adjustment and at the same time to prevent it frombeing injured to such an extent by slight shocks or blows as to preventit from working in the teeth 4. This construction of the thread furtherpermits it to be milled or serrated so that it will afford a secure gripby which the operator may swing the nut on its pivot intoand out ofengagement with the teeth 4 and to rotate the nut on its stem or journal10. The form of the screw thread is also advantageous in securing a firmlocking action between the nut and shank, so that the spring 13 may bemade comparatively light and will yet exert su'flicient pressure toprevent the nut from jumping out of engagement with the teeth 4 andreleasing the sliding jaw when the wrench is used as a hammer.

In the construction described and shown it will be noted that the freeterminal of the spring 13 bears at all times against the foris connectedto the jaw a distance in advance of the pivotal support of the nut. Thisconstruction provides a material advantage in the wrench of thisinvention, as by the contact of the free end of the spring with the faceof the nut, the slightest outward move ment of the nut tends to put thespring under tension. As the spring is supported in advance of thepivotal support of the nut, and as the relatively forward or free endof'the spring will, under the movement of the nut, tend to move in thearc of the circle, it is obvious that the respective planes of movementof the free end of the spring and of the contacting face of the nutwill, coincide-at a determinate point beyond which the nut cannot move.Therefore, the particular mounting of the spring and nut insure firstthat in the outward movement of the nut the spring will be tensioned,and secondly that the spring in such outward movement will,

at a determinate point limit the further movement of the nut. Provisionis thus made for moving the nut a suflicient distance to disengage itfrom the teeth on the shank, its further movement being prevented. Theadvantage of such arrangement is obvious particularly when similardevices have been heretofore constructed with additional means forlimiting the disengaging movement of the nut.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, is z- Awrench comprising a shank provided with teeth, a fixed jaw thereon, amovable jaw slidable on the shank and provided with a recess open at twosides, a member pivoted in the recess and extending out of the same, arotatable adjusting element on the member disposed wholly outside therecess and provided with threads adapted to mesh with the teeth, theelement being so arranged on the member as to normally close one side ofthe recess and to bear positively against the slidable jaw, and a springsecured to the movable jaw to serve as a stop for limiting thedisengaging movement of the element and for maintaining the element innormal position, said spring being located wholly outside the recess andforming a closure for the other open side of the latter and cooperatingwith the element to exclude dirt from the recess, the free extremity ofthe spring being disposed at all times at a point inwardly from theperiphery of the element to be protected by the latter.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SAMUEL LONGANECKER.

Witnesses:

THEODORE L. ZION, E. E. LANGSTON.

